MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION — Annual Report for 1991 



Symposium on the Northeast Atlantic Shelf Ecosys- 

 tem: Stress, Mitigation, and Sustainability 

 (Kenneth Sherman, National Marine Fisheries 

 Service, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, Narra- 

 gansett Laboratory, Narragansett, Rhode Island) 



The concept of ecologically defined marine ecosys- 

 tems was discussed at the first meeting of the ad hoc 

 Committee on Large Marine Ecosystems, held in 

 Paris in March 1991. Meeting participants noted that 

 where marine ecosystems overlap political boundaries, 

 it is in the interest of affected states to work together 

 to develop an understanding of compatible strategies 

 for conserving fishery resources and other components 

 of the system. As a follow-up to the Paris meeting, 

 and with partial support from the Marine Mammal 

 Commission, a symposium to assess the northeast 

 shelf ecosystem as a Large Marine Ecosystem was 

 convened at the University of Rhode Island Graduate 

 School of Oceanography in August 1 99 1 . The sympo- 

 sium brought together experts with diverse back- 

 grounds {e.g., fisheries, marine mammals, plankton, 

 eutrophication, pollution, biotoxins, coastal manage- 

 ment, and restoration ecology) to review available 

 information concerning the state of the northeast shelf 

 ecosystem and provide an assessment of the measures 

 needed to prevent or mitigate adverse changes result- 

 ing from overfishing, pollution, etc. The report of 

 the symposium will be published in 1992 in the 

 American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science's Selected Symposia Series on large marine 

 ecosystems. 



Support for Amending the Bering Sea/Aleutian 

 Islands Groundfish Fishery Management Plan 

 (William J. Wilson, LGL Alaska Research Associ- 

 ates, Inc., Anchorage, Alaska) 



In 1989, the North Pacific Fishery Management 

 Council recommended, and the National Marine Fish- 

 eries Service adopted, a two-year exclusion of com- 

 mercial fisheries to protect walruses in parts of 

 northern Bristol Bay. The measure was taken in 

 response to a 50 percent decline in walruses at terres- 

 trial haulouts in this area between 1986 and 1988. 

 The decline coincided with the onset of yellowfin sole 

 fishing in nearby waters, and the resulting noise and 

 disturbance by trawlers was considered a likely cause. 



The closure, including waters from 3 to 12 miles 

 around Round Island, the Twins, and Cape Peirce, 

 was to expire at the end of 1991 unless action was 

 taken to extend it. Late in 1990, the Council ex- 

 pressed interest in making the measure permanent. 

 The Council, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and other 

 responsible parties had insufficient staff, time, and 

 funds to prepare the environmental assessment and 

 other background documents required to accompany 

 such an action. The Commission, therefore, contract- 

 ed for the preparation of the environmental assessment 

 and background documentation needed for the Council 

 to proceed with considering the proposed action and 

 alternatives. The contractor's report was provided to 

 the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (see 

 Chapter II for additional information). 



Workshop To Identify Issues Meriting Priority 

 Attention by the Newly Formed North Pacific 

 Marine Science Organization (PICES) 

 (Edward L. Miles, Ph.D., Director, and Professor 

 Warren S. Wooster, School of Marine Affairs, 

 University of Washington, Seattle, Washington) 



On 12 December 1990, representatives of Canada, 

 Japan, the People's Republic of China, the Union of 

 Soviet Socialist Republics, and the United States 

 concluded the Convention for a North Pacific Marine 

 Science Organization (PICES). The purpose of the 

 Convention is to provide a forum for exchanging 

 scientific and technical information and for coordinat- 

 ing research on the North Pacific marine ecosystem. 

 The Convention is expected to enter into force in 

 1992, at which time the first meeting of the Govern- 

 ing Council established by the Convention is expected 

 to be held. The purpose of this workshop, held 12-13 

 December 1991 at the National Marine Fisheries 

 Service's Northwest Fisheries Science Center in 

 Seattle, Washington, was to review the state of I 

 knowledge and identify research gaps and priorities 

 related to four topic areas: (1) climate change; (2) the 

 Bering Sea; (3) environmental quality; and (4) fishery 

 oceanography. Workshop participants included scien- 

 tists from the five signatory nations. The workshop 

 report, to be completed and distributed early in 1992, 

 will be used to help develop the agenda for the first I 

 meeting of the Governing Council. 



182 



